China Is Building a Replica of Shakespeare's Hometown, Stratford-Upon-Avon

For any Shakespeare fan, a visit to the legendary playwright’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon England, is a literary treat. But what if you could see the charming Tudor home-filled streets and an authentic Chinese pagoda within the same afternoon? That’s exactly what’s happening in the city of Fuzhou, China where there are plans to build a replica of the famous British town, complete with the River Avon flowing through.

Located about six hours south of Shanghai on the coast, the new town called Sanweng (meaning "three masters") will celebrate the playwright along with Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes and Chinese author Tang Xianzu, all of whom died in 1616. To mark the 400th anniversary of their deaths, multiple tourist attractions will be erected including a museum, theater, and hotel. The United Kingdom also commemorated the quatercentenary year with a series of public performances, programs, exhibitions and creative activities in London and throughout the country.

For Shakespeare’s “Little Stratford,” visitors will get the chance to tour through copies of the author’s two former homes, wander the Tudor streets, and relax on the banks of the Avon River. There’s also going to be a replica of Rome’s Trinita dei Monti church, for some reason.

Built circa 438 BC, this temple was dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

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Music City’s replica of the Greek temple was built to scale—it’s the exact same size, right down to the 42 foot-tall statue of Athena. Nashville’s Parthenon was erected in 1897 as part of the city’s Centennial celebration and now serves as an art museum, displaying mostly 19th and 20th century works (no Greek pottery in sight).

France gave Lady Liberty as a gift to the United States, and America returned the favor in 1889, presenting them with a 22-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty on the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The statue lives on Ile aux Cygnes (Isle of Swans), a small man-made island in the Seine near the Bir-Hakeim Bridge. She faces west, in the direction of her older sister in New York.

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This nude sculpture is one of the most famous—and most controversial—works of art in the world.

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Michelangelo’s sculpture of the naked Biblical hero David is one of the most famous pieces of art in the world. But when it first debuted in 1504, it wasn’t in a museum—it was perched in the Palazzo della Signoria, the city’s political center, and pointed to face Rome. When David was moved into the Galleria dell’Accademia, a replica was left in his original spot in the palazzo. Replica David doesn’t cost any money to see, and he’s a big hit with selfie-takers.

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This Druid temple was built sometime between 3000 and 2000 BC.

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When Washington businessman Samuel Hill learned that the original Stonehenge may have been a site of human sacrifice, he saw parallels between that and the events of World War I. He used some of his fortune to commission a replica of Stonehenge in Maryhill, near the Columbia River and the Oregon border. The replica was completed in 1929 and is now owned and maintained by the Maryhill Museum of Art. According to one local legend, Hill’s unusual art undertaking inspired the phrase “What in the Sam Hill,” but this has never been verified.

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Inaugurated in 1836, the Arc is one of the most photographed attractions in the country.

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Unlike many of the replicas on this list, the Arc de Triomf, Barcelona’s answer to the more famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris, is not a copy. The French Arc is made in a Neoclassical style and commemorates French soldiers, while the Spanish one is made of brick, acknowledges the role of agriculture and industry, and was erected for the World’s Fair here in 1888.

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Although the idea of a “typical Dutch village” is more of a metaphor than a real place, this is what a house from the period may have looked like.

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Can’t decide whether to go to Europe or Asia for your summer vacation? Japan attempted to resolve that dilemma when they built Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park designed to look like a typical Dutch village from the 17th century. There’s an artificial canal, a replica windmill (pictured), and several shops where you can buy Dutch tulips and chocolates.

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The Tower of Pisa was constructed 1732 and started leaning over not long after.

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The actual leaning tower of Pisa originally stood up straight but only became famous when it started to slip to one side thanks to a weak foundation. However, the Leaning Tower of Niles, a half-size replica, was always intended to tilt. The smaller tower was built in the Chicago suburb in 1934, and in 1992, Pisa and Niles made their relationship official by becoming sister cities.

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One of the best-known and best-preserved Roman buildings, the Pantheon was completed by Hadrian in AD 126.

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The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia began as the Girard Bank, the first bank in the United States, which was modeled after the Roman Pantheon. The bank changed hands several times and the building was eventually sold to the Ritz-Carlton, who held on to the original Broad Street building but added on to the property.

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New York City is way more than just Manhattan—its five boroughs are filled with things to see and do.

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It can be tough to see all of New York City in a single trip. But you can get an abridged version of a five-borough tour by visiting the Queens Museum and checking out The Panorama of the City of New York, a scale model of the city that was built for the 1964 World's Fair, but is regularly updated to include new landmarks, parks, and attractions. Even locals get excited when they find a scale model of the block they live on.

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The Trevi Fountain is one of Rome’s most recognizable sights and inspired the classic film Three Coins in the Fountain.

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Las Vegas is an entire city full of replicas—in just a few minutes’ walk you can pass both an “Eiffel Tower” and an “Egyptian pyramid.” But the Trevi Fountain is so popular that Vegas has two models of it—one is at the Caesars Palace casino, the other at a Fendi store.

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Although many Parisians hated the Tower when it was unveiled in year 1889, it has since become the most-visited tourist attraction on earth.

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The Eiffel Tower’s fame has lent itself to many imitations. There are replicas all over the world in places as far-flung as Romania and China, as well as multiple theme park knockoffs (most notably at Disney World’s Epcot Center), a Las Vegas version, and the one pictured here in Bitung, Indonesia.

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For Cervantes, a “Little Alcala” will be built in honor of Alcalá de Henares, the Spanish city where he was born. There you will be able to visit China's own version of the UNESCO site, walk through the “Don Quixote” author’s home, a town square, and a church. And in honor of Tan Xianzu there will be a museum about the region’s famous writer, a town hall, and garden—all replicas of traditional Chinese architecture.

The unique town has no set opening date yet, but already has the approval of the Stratford-upon-Avon district council and Shakespeare Birthplace trust who visited the proposed site. The real U.K. town is actually one of the most popular destinations in the country for Chinese tourists, but this attraction seeks to draw people from all over the world.

Clearly China is a master at creating large-scale replicas. Their Window of the World in Shenzhen is a theme park that is literally dedicated to reproducing over 100 famous sites from around the world. You can see the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, and the Taj Mahal in one day. Your move, Epcot.